


Canon Fodder

by taibhrigh



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Missing Scene, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-15
Updated: 2013-05-15
Packaged: 2017-12-11 21:59:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/803716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taibhrigh/pseuds/taibhrigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>William Lennox finally makes it home to his wife and daughter and he's bringing a new friend along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Canon Fodder

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [siluria](http://archiveofourown.org/users/siluria) for the beta.
> 
> This is set during the last few minutes of the first movie. 

~~~***~~~

Major William Lennox rested his head against the black leather headrest and closed his eyes. It was good to let someone else do the driving; though, this time it was not some Private from the motor pool. The last few days had been filled with hectic moments of meetings filled with tedious questions that were asked over and over, followed by hours of downtime sitting in a hallway drinking stale coffee while waiting to be called in again. Then the whole process repeated again and again. No outside communication had been allowed and there was only so much a person could take when they felt like a human record.

Ten days after the broadcast that announced that his base had been destroyed Will had finally been able to call his wife --even if it was only for five minutes-- to let her know he wasn't dead. That he'd just been promoted and he was going to be coming home in two days for what would be almost six weeks of leave. That's what he was doing now, making the drive out to his home.

The first part of his leave would be filled with at least a dozen funerals he had to, no needed to, attend. Then there was telling his wife they needed to move. That his family home would need to be packed up and a caretaker found and that the country house would not be the place where his daughter was going to be raised.

He was an Army Ranger. He wasn't scared of much, especially after the last ten days, but he was scared of what was coming up. Battling giant alien robots seemed easier than confronting his wife and he meant that in a good way. He knew the Decepticons were still around and more could arrive, but for the moment they were nowhere near him and he wanted to keep it that way for his wife and daughter. 

Giant Alien Robots. When had his life become so out there that those three words didn't even raise a little alarm or panic him anymore? Had it happened somewhere between the desert and the giant metal scorpion, or under Hover Dam where the yellow one --Bumblebee-- being freed from what amounted to torture had the good grace not to fire on the new humans standing in his cell?

The Autobots were currently _stationed_ at Nellis Air Force Base while Keller and Optimus finished hammering out all the details associated with the Non-biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty which had thankfully been shortened to NEST. All the Autobots were there with the exception of the one he was currently riding in which was probably a good thing. In the brief time Will had known the Autobots he was sure of one thing: Ironhide was not the best person or bot to handle diplomatic missions. If you wanted to blow something up or shoot it out of the sky, Ironhide was your bot. Bureaucratic bullshit, not so much.

The sound of a horn blaring jarred him out of part of his thoughts. It wasn't the aliens that scared him, it was seeing his wife for the first time in nearly eight months, and meeting his daughter for the first time. She was so small compared to everything around him. To what he now knew was out in the Universe.

"Lennox," came the gruff voice from the truck's sound system.

Will opened his eyes and lifted his head, letting go of the steering wheel he had apparently grasped onto so tightly that his fingers had turned white. "Sorry," he said, sliding over to the passenger seat so he wouldn't be tempted to grab at the wheel again.

"I was not referring to the instinct you must feel for needing to _drive_ the vehicle you are riding in." Came Ironhide's voice, much softer sounding than before from the speakers. "I am not Ratchet but my sensors told me your heart rate spiked for no reason."

Lennox laughed. "You haven't met my wife yet," he said, smiling at just the thought of his wife and seeing her soon.

"You are afraid of your female?"

"It's complicated," Will responded. "But first, don't ever refer to Sarah as _my female_ , she'll flatten all your tires before you can even think to drive away. She is my wife because she did me the honor of saying yes when I asked for her hand in marriage. I know you have access to the internet."

Will heard the slight hum that Ironhide always gave off change slightly and then return to normal, which he knew meant that the big black bot was surfing the web. "Don't drive us into a ditch while you read," Lennox joked.

"I can multitask, William."

Will snorted. "I'm sure you can." Will sighed. "Sarah has had to put up with a lot by agreeing to marry a military man. We both knew about all the challenges going in but I always worry about her. Though she will argue that she worries about me more. I couldn't even be stateside when Annabelle was born. Got to witness it over a webcam."

"She called every public phone number associated with your Army at least a dozen times each since the attack on your base."

"No hacking."

The Topkick gave a little jump as if the big mech was shrugging his shoulders.

"Your mate writes fiction stories that entertain housewives?"

Will grimaced. "That's a bad article. Don't mention that one to her. Though she does write those kind of books and has quite a large following. That is the only good thing about uprooting her life, she can write from just about anywhere."

The hum returned after that comment. "Stop reading," Lennox muttered, knowing what the mech was doing now. 

Ironhide sped up to pass a line of eighteen wheelers before slowing down again. Will found it actually normal and mostly comforting that the mech that was all about the fight could also be cautious about safety.

"You are Lieutenant Mitchell in her second series."

Will closed his eyes but didn't bother to deny it. His wife's second series had consisted of three books --the dating, engagement, and marriage of the two main characters. She had talked about writing a follow-up about the birth of the couple's first child. The series had put his wife on the Best Sellers List each time a book had come out. Her new series was doing even better, but Will knew people would embrace a fourth book for the older series.

"That's a not-so secret secret on base," he admitted. "It's agreed that no one talks about it or they end up as a character." Which surprisingly enough did work as a threat. Epps hadn't believed him and there was a character that looked a lot like Bobby in his wife's next series.

Ironhide was quiet again and Will let the mech read while he dozed again. Sarah really would try and flatten his tires.

~~~***~~~

He felt Ironhide roll to a stop and opened his eyes. His house was just a few yards away and his wife had just stepped out onto the porch with little Annabelle in her arms.

"She's so tiny," Will said more to himself than Ironhide.

"You are all tiny," Ironhide commented.

Will kicked the passenger side door with his steel-tipped boot and felt the truck give a little shudder as if wincing.

"That was unnecessary," Ironhide huffed.

"Uh huh," Will said, sliding open the door to climb out. "Just," he paused. "Drive around to the side. We'll do the introductions after I get her to sign the paperwork."

Will pulled his bag from the cab and watched Ironhide pull around to the side even as he was walking quickly up the path to his wife and daughter. They were in his arms before he could say anything. _Oh god,_ he thought, as he held his daughter for the first time. _I'm a dad._ he thought, just looking down at the small bundle in his arms. Then for Annabelle's ears said, "I'm your dad."

He wasn't sure how long he stood there just holding his daughter next to his chest and staring down at her.

"Will," his wife called, smiling at him and he knew then that he'd missed everything she'd said, but it was okay. "Let's go inside," she added, opening the screen door.

Will followed her in, still holding tightly to Annabelle. His wife's next comment broke him out of his attentions to his daughter. "Is your driver just going to sit out there the whole time?"

"Umm," and that did not sound like the seasoned officer that he was. Still holding Annabelle in his arm he reached inside his pack and pulled out a folder with the words 'confidential' and 'top secret' emblazoned in red ink across the front. "Sarah," he said. "We need to talk."

His wife looked from him to the document now sitting in front of her and back to him. "Want to give me the short version of what I'm about to sign away?"

Will grinned, that was his wife. Straight to it with no bullshit. "National, or international, security. So, no talking about it to anyone. I'll tell you who else knows. No writing about it. At least in specifics and you'll have to change some stuff if you do. That's the orange flag sticking out about halfway through. Apparently General Morshower's wife is a fan and they seem to think little hints here and there might be good in the future should it ever become public knowledge." He watched Sarah flip to the section and read. Pause, look at him, and read again.

"Umm," she said. "How about you start at the beginning?"

So he did. She wasn't too thrilled with the idea of moving with a new born but seemed to be taking everything else in stride. An hour later she signed her name and initialed where indicated and slid the document back towards him. The whole time Will had not relinquished the hold on his daughter. Now he was standing on the porch watching his wife approach the black GMC Topkick. "So, you're Ironhide?" she said, running her finger across the hood of the truck. "A giant alien robot from another planet."

Ironhide rolled backwards several feet and transformed before leaning down to be eye level with Sarah. "Yes."

Will watched his wife circle Ironhide. Listened to her humming noises that Will knew meant she was thinking about story plots. He cleared his throat. "Please don't get arrested," he said as she came to stand in front of Ironhide again. "You just signed a non-disclosure."

She lifted an eyebrow and rolled her eyes at him before looking directly into the mech's bright blue optics. "You watch out for my husband," she announced. "Or I will hunt you down and your tires will be the least of your concern."

Ironhide turned to him. "Your wife is taking this better than the internet said she would."

"I wouldn't believe everything you read on the web," Will commented, then turned to his wife. "You cannot use him for canon fodder," he told her before turning to look up at Ironhide. "Not that type of cannon or fodder. Oh my god I cannot believe I'm having this conversation!"

Will looked down at the sleeping infant in his hands and retreated inside the house. Everything had just settled around him and he knew life was going to be anything but normal from this moment forward.

**~end~**


End file.
